Whistler Advice?

Hi all, I'm trying to plan a trip to Whistler and I'm shooting for end of September. I've never been there before, never ridden in a bike park, but I would consider myself an "advanced" rider in terms of ability on sinlgetrack if not in a bike park setting.

Anyway, I had a few questions:
- Is late-Sept too late?
- Any reco's for lodging or packages? I'm hoping to do 4 or 5 nights and ride every day. Would like to explore some AM/CC riding as well as the park as possible.
- Are the heli-biking operators still running that late? Know of any that take solo riders?
- Worth getting a guide or is it easy enough to navigate?

Any other advice is welcome. I've been searching for info but there is so much out there its hard to make sense of who is who.

If you don't know anyone to show you around, it might be worth the price to have a guide for at least half a day. Late September is a great time, cooler and not as crowded. I would recommend Squamish as another option to break things up. About 45 minutes away but it has a great trail network. There are usually a lot of good hotel deals that time of year. That is the only time the high-end hotels have great deals.

some years late sept is awesome, some years not.. still go IMO.
mid week at that time should have wicked hotel deals
I have no idea about heli's, I am a broke ski/bike bum, but maybe email blackcomb aviation
IMO get a guide for an intro to the bike park, it's way different than anywhere else.